The world is talking about Avengers: Doomsday. That's pretty impressive considering that the movie doesn't arrive in theaters for over a year, but it's the mythical power of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Truthfully, the internet has been rife with rumors about the cast of the movie for over a year now, but Marvel Studios' decision to announce the cast in a five-hour live stream sent everyone into meltdown.
Most of the castings were to be expected, with the majority of the MCU's recent heavy-hitters back in action, including Anthony Mackie's Captain America and the casts of both The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*. Original Avengers stars like Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. return too; but though Hemsworth is bringing Thor back, Downey will be swapping out Iron Man's mask for Doctor Doom's. And then there were the internet-breaking X-Men announcements, which confirmed that the likes of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen will reprise their roles from the X-Men movies.
However, there were some glaring omissions along the way, with MCU and Avengers regulars not listed among the Doomsday cast. Although some are still expected to be held as surprises, one in particular shocked people. And now it seems we know the reason why.
Spider-Man 4 reportedly takes place at the same time as Avengers: Doomsday, making a crossover appearance unlikely
As of Marvel's official announcement of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, Tom Holland is not expected to star in the movie. This is a major omission, as the star portrays Spider-Man in the MCU franchise and was expected to reprise the role in the 2026 movie. However, it turns out that there is a good reason for that apparent omission and it also has to do with the fact that Holland plays Spidey.
According to insider Jeff Sneider, Spider-Man 4 is set to take place at the same time as Avengers: Doomsday and thus the character simply cannot be in both projects. That's not to say that he couldn't be involved in a post-credits sequence (in the past, one MCU film might feature a scene from the next as its post-credits teaser) but it doesn't seem like he will be involved in a significant capacity.
The good thing about this, though, is that it likely confirms he will play a major role in Avengers: Secret Wars. After all, Spider-Man 4 is sandwiched between both Avengers movies so there is likely a reason for that.
What's also interesting is that this comes after a previous report by insider Daniel Richtman, which suggested that Holland's role in Doomsday would be limited as he will be filming Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey at the same time, which may result in a stunt double acting out some of the scenes when Peter Parker is suited up as Spider-Man (and Holland then dubbing over them in post-production). But this might not be the case at all if the character isn't expected to feature in the movie.
Our take on what this could mean for Spidey's role in Avengers: Doomsday
As always with major Marvel movies, rumors are aplenty and answers are far and few between. From an official standpoint, it looks like Tom Holland won't be a part of Avengers: Doomsday's main cast - and now we know that there are two reasons for that. The star will be busy filming Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Spider-Man 4 is set to take place at the same time as Doomsday anyway, so the webslinger can't be in two places at once. And yet, there have been plenty of rumors claiming that he will be involved. So where does that leave things?
If we throw our two cents into the mix, we'll say this: There is still a strong possibility that Holland will make an appearance in Avengers: Doomsday and here's why. Marvel Studios has been struggling a little bit more than usual at the box office, with a number of titles in the Multiverse Saga either being moderate success stories or outright underperformers. There have been exceptions (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Deadpool and Wolverine were big overperformers) but generally, the MCU needs to recharge itself to its former glory. And now it has an opportunity to do that.
Avengers: Doomsday will no doubt be a major phenomenon in and of itself, but it will also start a chain of what could be three monumental films (the other two being Spider-Man 4 and Avengers: Secret Wars). The last time Marvel Studios had this kind of opportunity, they used the space between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame to launch Captain Marvel, which became one of the franchise's most successful movies. How did they do that? By teasing Carol Danvers' arrival at the end of Infinity War and ensuring that a relatively Phase One-like movie was imperative to the plot of the Infinity Saga's grand finale Endgame. Now they get to do that all again, here.
With that in mind, whatever type of cliffhanger ending Doomsday has, it should - and probably will -feature Spider-Man in some capacity. Remember, he's disconnected from the Avengers right now due to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, so he doesn't need to be by their side at the start of this journey. But whatever goes down should bring him back into the fold, setting the stage for his own adventure in Spider-Man 4.
We already know the next Spider-Man movie is going to be a box office juggernaut (the previous one made almost $2 billion), and the two Avengers movies on either end of it will no doubt be too. But Marvel has the chance to ensure that all three are treated as equally must-see adventures by tying them together. Use Doomsday's post-credits scene to reintroduce Spidey, setting the stage for his standalone. And then have that open the doors to the big team-up we're all waiting for in Avengers: Secret Wars.
So, no: Tom Holland may not be a part of the main Avengers: Doomsday cast. But that doesn't mean he won't be in it.